


To the Rooftop

by OnstageSport



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Katherine and Specs just being buddies, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 15:11:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13860345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnstageSport/pseuds/OnstageSport
Summary: A missing scene between the rally and Jack returning to his penthouse to find Katherine waiting for him.





	To the Rooftop

There was a knock on the doorframe of the main room of the lodging house. All the boys gave each other bizarre looks, clearly confused by who it could be. The only people who were missing were Jack and Crutchie, and neither of them would knock. Kloppman would have entered by now as well.

“Come in?” Race called, slightly wary.

Rounding the corner with her hand shielding her eyes, Katherine asked, “Are you all decent?”

There was a frenzied clamor as those who weren’t fully dressed scrambled to clothe themselves and those who were dressed clambered to their feet. A couple of them quickly removed their hats to show their respect for the lady.

“Is Jack here?” she asked, still shielding her eyes.

The room fell silent, all of the boys still stung from the events of the rally. They turned their attention to the floor, the bed posts, anything so that they wouldn’t have to confront the girl reminding them all that they had just lost their leader. Sure, they still had Davey, but they all had just met him and there wasn’t the established trust there—and if _Jack_ could abandon them, then what was going to stop Davey, who really had no allegiance to them?

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Race asked spitefully, whipping his cigar out of his mouth as he approached her. “Jack ain’t a newsie no more.”

Katherine slowly and cautiously lowered her hand, focusing solely on Race in case the others weren’t quite dressed yet. She too had witnessed Jack’s behavior at the rally, had seen the bribe her father had bestowed on him.

“That can’t be true,” she insisted, though she wasn’t sure who she was really trying to convince. When Race scoffed and turned away, prepared to return to his sulking, Katherine grabbed his arm. “Maybe I could talk to him. Is he here?”

Race fixed her with a cold gaze and stepped in close, too close for comfort. She got the distinctive feeling that this boy was looking for some outlet for all of the day’s disappointment. She stepped back.

“Do you see him?” Race asked.

Katherine scanned the room and, for the first time, took in her surroundings. There were a dozen bunk beds lining the room, some supporting two smaller boys squished together to fit, there was an open doorway leading to another room that she supposed was their washroom, and a bucket standing in the corner and a quick glance to the ceiling showed it to have a hole that surely leaked in bad weather. But no sign of Jack Kelly.

“I’ll wait for him,” she resigned. This was met by the boys grumbling. Had it not been for Race’s sarcastic snort, she would have thought the reaction was because they didn’t want her around.

“Good luck with _that_ ,” he scoffed. “He’s not coming back here.”

Katherine clenched her teeth and shook her head, refusing to believe it. He had to come back. The work with the strike wasn’t over and he was the representative of the whole thing!

Even if he was going to run away to Santa Fe with his newfound wealth, he would need to collect his things before he could go. So he had to return to the lodging house, if for no other reason than his belongings. He just had to.

Her train of thought was disrupted by another boy chiming in from the back of the room, “And if he _does_ , we’ll soak him.”

Katherine’s head whipped around to find the source of the voice, her eyes wide with bewilderment. Would they seriously turn to violence if Jack returned, even if it were to apologize and rejoin the movement?

She spotted a boy being swatted with a hat and supposed that he must have been the one to speak.

“I’d like to be here if he does come back,” she asserted. She looked around at the packed room, unsure if there would be any space for her if she was allowed to stay. “ _When_ he comes back.”

If it were possible, everyone averted their gaze even harder. Even Race took a step back. This girl must be batty if she thought Jack hadn’t already high-tailed it out of New York.

There was a long silence as she waited for permission to wait somewhere. Even though she was probably one of the oldest people in the room, if not the building, she was still technically a guest. She had just about given up hope of being granted any sort of permission when someone spoke up.

“Follow me,” said a boy from the corner.

Katherine hastily picked her skirt a few inches off the ground, careful not to let the fabric drag through any substance that may cover the floor as she crossed to him.

“Thank you.”

The boy just nodded and jerked his head to the side, indicating their path. Katherine stared in confusion as he ducked out the window onto the fire escape.

“Well, come on,” he laughed, poking his head back in.

He held his hand out through the opening in case she wanted some assistance getting out onto the fire escape. She hesitated in accepting the assistance for only a second.

The early evening air was a bit brisk, but their momentum as they climbed kept Katherine warm enough. The boy had started quickly, carelessly taking the steps two at a time, but slowed to wait up for Katherine. They eventually made it to the roof of the building, Katherine’s boots proving an issue when it came to the ladder. The boy helped pull her up and they looked out over the cityscape.

The sun was low in the sky, the blood red fading to dark blue, threatening to turn to inky black. The breeze was more prominent up here with no buildings to stop it. The faint sounds of the few people out at this time drifted up to them. Katherine leaned against the railing, taking in the city from this height.

The boy stepped up beside her, staring out to the sky.

“It’s beautiful,” Katherine nodded absently, “but why exactly are we up here?”

The boy shrugged casually and explained as though it were common knowledge, “Jack always hangs out up here. Sleeps here most nights too.” He snorted before adding, “He calls it his ‘penthouse.’”

Katherine smiled at the thought, looking at the sky again. In comparison to the crowded room downstairs, the rooftop certainly seemed to be a luxury.

After several seconds passed, the boy clapped his hands and headed for the ladder.

“I gotta get going,” he said with a tip of his cap. “If you get cold up here, I’m pretty sure Jack’s got a blanket with his stuff.”

He gestured towards the corner of the roof where there lay a rolled up blanket and a small bag with rolled up papers sticking out of it. Jack surely wouldn’t have fled without coming to collect his things.

“All right. Thank you,” Katherine nodded as the boy began climbing down the ladder. “Wait!” She knelt at the top of the ladder. He pulled himself back up the few rungs he had already descended. “I never caught your name.”

“They all call me Specs,” he beamed at her. “Goodnight and good luck, Miss P.”

“Plumber,” she supplied before he started his descent again.

He pulled himself up once more only to just smile and cast her a wink as he repeated, “Goodnight, _Miss P_.” He then disappeared from sight, leaving Katherine alone.

Katherine straightened up, her mouth falling open and her eyes scanning back and forth to determine what Specs had meant by such an ambiguity. As she sat down, preparing to wait quite a while for Jack to arrive, she found herself thinking that these boys were full of surprises. Hopefully Jack was as well.


End file.
